Chapter 209
CHAPTER 209
IN A CABIN "NEATH A TREE (IV)
Lino was currently rubbing his cheek tenderly with a frown on his face, eyes scrutinizing the masked woman standing in front of him . There was a faint trace of dissatisfaction in his eyes, almost pouting . Both had just left the lake"s water, translucent droplets slipping down their bodies and hair, still in their undergarments .
" . . . now, tell me again, do you know what you did wrong?" Hannah asked with a halfway firm tone .
" . . . I honestly don"t get it," Lino sighed . "It"s clear you"d like nothing more than to jump me and stab your nails into my skin . And not in the "oh I"ll skin you alive with my nails" sort of a way either . "
"You"ve got some grand delusions there . "
"Do I?" Lino glanced up, grinning . "Or am I hitting the sore spots?"
" . . . you go in to talk to every woman with the expectation that she would just be unable to resist you, do you?" she asked .
"Oh? Is that what this is?" Lino chuckled . "You"re thinking you might just be "another" woman?"
"I"d always known you had quite a big ego," Hannah said after a short pause, sighing . "But this . . . this is taking things to a whole new level of insanity . "
"You can try to dodge your way out of it as much as you want, won"t work . "
"You don"t even know who I am . "
"So?"
"What do you mean "so"? What"s with that sheepish expression?"
" . . . what"s it matter if I know your name, or if I remember you or not?" Lino questioned with a serious gaze . "Shouldn"t it be more important that I"ve gotten to know you over the past week well enough that I"d go for it?"
" . . . oh, wow . Well, that"s one way to weasel yourself out of this . "
"Besides, I think the bar is way too high . "
"What do you mean?" she asked .
"I mean that I"m fairly certain I"ve never even kissed you in my life, let alone slept with you," Lino said . "How in the f.u.c.k am I supposed to remember who you are then? Do you know just how many people I"ve met?"
" . . . "
"I saw a twitch there," Lino said . "Wait, don"t tell me I actually failed to remember the softness of the woman"s lips?! Aaagh . . . yeah, you"re right . I don"t deserve this . I"m too much of a sc.u.mbag . I"m despicable . The worst . Atrocious . "
"Listing out your character"s flaws won"t earn you any free points, you know?" she chuckled faintly, shaking her head .
" . . . just be honest with me . " Lino suddenly said as he turned around and looked at her again . "I know you"re attracted to me . So . . . why?"
" . . . are you sure you want to know?" Hannah tilted her head .
"Ah! So you admit you"re attracted to me?"
"Of course I am," she shrugged . "Any woman who doesn"t think "oh, yeah, I"d like to bury my face in those abs" probably streaks the other way . "
" . . . heh . " Lino smirked in satisfaction .
"But, it"s just a fleeting attraction . Nine out of ten times, it would practically collapse the moment they got to know you . You"re impulsive," she continued . "Indifferent, fake down to your bones, uninspired, arrogant, emotionally broken, self-centered, a compulsive liar, a womanizer, a drunkard, a battle-maniac, and though I can"t know for certain most-likely a casual thief who does it for s.h.i.+ts and giggles . Tell me, then, does that sound like someone I"d be attracted to?"
" . . . oh, wow . That actually hurt . " Lino said, taking a deep breath . "But, yeah, why not? I mean, I always tell people: I"m a complex young man with numerous layers that require deep inspection . "
"No, you"re just a walking denial wrapped in a bubble of insecurities that"d wear down an entire freaking platoon of us, let alone just me . " she persisted .
" . . . yeah, I suppose you"re right . " following a short silence, Lino spoke out with a faint, bitter chuckle . "I took a leap of faith . . . didn"t pay off . Can"t fault the guy for trying, right?"
" . . . " after saying so, Lino turned around and picked up the clothes sitting on the ground, slowly putting them on with the clear intent of leaving . "Is that it?"
"What?" he glanced at her, putting the s.h.i.+rt on .
"No back-talk? No counter-psycho-a.n.a.lysis?"
"Oh, sorry," Lino smirked . "I just wasn"t as obsessed with you as you were with me to the point of being able to completely a.n.a.lyze your character . "
" . . . a charming tongue can only go so far . "
"Further than you might think . " he winked .
" . . . man the f.u.c.k up already . " she growled through her gritted teeth .
"Hm?"
"I said man the f.u.c.k up already!" she exclaimed, jolting over toward him and pus.h.i.+ng him onto the ground . "Not everything is a G.o.dd.a.m.n joke!"
" . . . if you keep sitting on me like that, a part of me will sit up too, one you"ve clearly rejected so you might get a bit uncomfortable . "
" . . . heh," Hannah chuckled after a short silence, her lips curling up in a smile . "That"s how it is, huh? Forever a joker?"
" . . . "
" . . . you"re not a joker, Lino . You"re just a joke . " she got up, walking over and putting on her dress . "Nothing more and nothing less . "
" . . . how"s Ally been doing?" Lino asked suddenly, causing Hannah to freeze in spot and turn on her heel, staring at him with eyes wide open .
" . . . w-what . . . who"s Ally?" she managed to spit out, stuttering .
"Oh, you know," Lino smiled, leaning back against the rock . "That cute little girl I helped you recruit that eventually took your position in the Sect . "
" . . . I-I don"t know what you"re talking about . . . " she mumbled .
" . . . I"d seen her from afar over ten years ago," he said . "It seemed like she"d come back for me . Has gotten quite strong, to be honest . Was already an Exalted back then . She killed all the nuns that you"ve banned me from doing back then . I, however, doubt you were smart enough to plan that far ahead . Must be a coincidence . "
" . . . "
" . . . though I can"t know what," Lino continued, ignoring her silence . "I imagine something must have happened to her . Knots in the heart are quite a deterrent for cultivators, and that visit probably made hers worse . What was it? Memory wipe? Emotional disconnect? Or did she really manage to overcome it on her own?"
" . . . e-emotional disconnect . . . " Hannah gave up, crumbling onto the wet stones .
"Heh, it"s the safest one, after all," Lino chuckled . "Though it"s a shame . She grew up to be quite a beautiful one, hasn"t she?"
" . . . yeah . "
"What about you?" Lino asked .
" . . . what about me?" she asked back, glancing at him .
"Well, geez, I don"t know," Lino laughed lowly, getting up and walking over to her and crouching next to her . "Are you still a beauty I remember you to be?"
" . . . "
" . . . you, too, are impulsive," he said as he put his fingers on her chin, lifting her face up and forcing her to look him in the eyes . "You"re too kind-hearted," he continued, tracing his finger over her lips . "Too defenseless, too naive," the tip of his finger met with the bottom of the mask . "Too invested . . . too caring . . . " he slowly pressed it and slowly lifted it off an inch . "Too stubborn . . . " he lifted it up further, exposing slightly flushed cheeks . "You"re a trickster who can"t play tricks, you"re just as insecure as I am if not more, you"ve once s.e.xually a.s.saulted a twelve-year-old boy," he grinned as her eyes popped from beneath the mask, ethereally emerald in their hue, piercing . "You"re too self-conscious, a walking paradox . . . " Lino put the mask down next to the two, the last barrier vanis.h.i.+ng . The blood-crimson hair spilled wet over her forehead, creating a rather peculiar contrast to her somewhat pale skin . "But . . . " he mumbled, caressing her cheek gently with a smile . "You"re . . . Hannah . " he chuckled . "Even if you were a hundred times worse, you"d still be ten thousand times better than anyone else I"d ever met in my life . "
" . . . when . . . when did you figure it out?" she asked timidly, her lips trembling .
" . . . when we first met by that lake," he smiled . "Red hair . . . green eyes . . . the gaze that could disarm the Devils themselves . . . you did leave quite an impression on me back then, you know?"
" . . . I . . . I didn"t recognize you, though . . . " she tried to avert his gaze yet he stubbornly followed .
"Ha ha, of course you didn"t," Lino grinned . "Back then I used to be some scrawny, broody, listless, weak brat . Now I"m a handsome, brave, perfect stud . Quite an evolution, no?"
" . . . the only evolutionary thing about you is your ego . " she smiled faintly, shaking her head . "But, yeah . . . you"ve changed . . . quite a lot . "
" . . . I was right . "
"About what?" she asked .
"You"ve grown to be far more beautiful than her," he smiled . "Far, far more beautiful . "
" . . . when did it become a compet.i.tion?" she rolled her eyes at him, chuckling, seemingly having recovered from the initial shock .
"You"re right," Lino said, pressing closer . "It never was . " he stopped a mere inch away from her lips, staring piercingly into her eyes .
" . . . really?" she asked, grinning .
"Hey, gotta pay your dues . " he replied, grinning back .
"I am older than you, you remember that, right?"
"Oh, yeah, you"re quite an old one . "
"Hey!!"
" . . . "
" . . . ugh, fine . " she rolled her eyes yet again . "You"re still just a kid, I see . " she crossed the final inch and pressed her lips against his, her arms slowly wrapping themselves around his neck as his rested on her back . Like stone statues they remained embraced for a little while, shutting out the world around and beyond them, entirely wrapped in a small bubble surrounding the two .